Anakin Skywalker
This article is about Anakin Skywalker. You may be looking for the character's alternate form. Anakin Skywalker (later known as Darth Vader) is the protagonist, later one of the main antagonists of the prequel film trilogy of the Star Wars universe, and the central character in the first six Star Wars films. In The Phantom Menace, he was portrayed by Jake Lloyd as a child, in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, he was portrayed by Hayden Christensen, while Sebastian Shaw played as the older Anakin in Return of the Jedi. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, he was voiced by Matt Lanter throughout the series. He also makes a cameo in Star Wars Rebels as a vision and later as Darth Vader's malfunctioning voice, voiced as Matt Lanter. He was a legendary Force-sensitive who served the Galactic Republic as a Jedi Knight, and later served the Galactic Empire as a Sith Lord. Born to Shmi Skywalker, later in life he became the secret husband of Padmé Amidala, the father of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, and the grandfather of Ben Solo, a.k.a Kylo Ren. Background Personality As a child, Anakin was thoughtful, selfless, brave and highly intelligent for his age. He was also a gifted mechanic. Jira also described him as the kindest boy she had seen in all the galaxy. As an adult, Anakin developed into a more prideful, rebellious, headstrong and slightly naive young man, but he still possessed most of the aforementioned traits from his childhood. Although he was a good-hearted person, he was known to hold grudges and could be vengeful, short-tempered, hot-headed, impatient, difficult and emotionally insecure, but he commonly held these traits in check for the most part. He also hated being treated unjustly or being wrongly accused, and grew to hate being criticized or lectured. Despite his pride as a Jedi, Anakin was not above apologizing or admitting when he was wrong. He was a generally honest person and despised lying and deception, from his friends, allies and enemies alike. He also disliked politics, correctly considering most politicians to be greedy and self-conceited. As his fame and power grew, he became more prideful and overconfident, secretly believing that he was the best Jedi in the Order and that he could easily best any Jedi blindfolded with his lightsaber tied behind his back. Though he could be aggressive, violent, unpredictable and slightly arrogant, Anakin still had a sense of justice, honor and good morals. He also carried guilt and remorse for his violent deeds, the secrets he kept, and the loss of some of his loved ones, especially the loss of his mother Shmi Skywalker. Anakin's fear of losing the ones he cared about, and his desperation to find a way to stop them from dying, was ultimately one of the main reasons that led him to his fall to the Dark side. As a general within the ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic, Anakin was renowned for his leadership skills and admired by clones, Jedi and politicians alike. During the Clone Wars, Anakin, like his then-apprentice Ahsoka Tano, matured and became more responsible in many ways, but this apparently did not stop him from being reckless and impulsive sometimes. He was not as forgiving as his wife Padmé Amidala, as he rarely forgave people in general, particularly Obi-Wan, for lying to him or deceiving him. Unlike his best friend and former mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin never blindly followed rules and orders; he nearly always did what was right, even if it meant breaking rules or disobeying orders, if it was for the greater good. Though he was committed to the Jedi Order ever since he joined, Anakin was conflicted about it, wanting to walk away from the Order at several points during the Clone Wars, particularly so because of his love and secret marriage to Padmé, whom he believed he couldn't live without. Another source of conflict was his dwindling trust in the Jedi High Council, further fomented by Palpatine, and some of the Council's and Obi-Wan's questionable decisions. Anakin was extremely loyal to those who he cared about, expecting only loyalty in return and willing to do anything to protect them. He would often resort to the using the power of the Dark side of the Force in order to do so. When his friend and then-apprentice Ahsoka was accused of treason, he saw right away that Ahsoka had actually been framed and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time due to knowing her well enough to know she would never commit the crimes she was being accused of. After she was expelled from the Jedi Order and turned over to the Republic, Anakin was the only Jedi who took an active role in clearing her name; he managed to track down the actual guilty party, Barriss Offee, and expose her after defeating her in a lightsaber duel. However, Ahsoka refused to rejoin the Jedi and left due to the fact that, excluding Anakin, the entire Jedi Order had turned its back on her. After this incident, Anakin's trust and respect for the Jedi Council was severely shaken, as well as his faith in the Jedi Order itself. Powers and Abilities Powers *'The Force:' As the Chosen One, Anakin was immensely powerful and had an amazingly strong connection to the Force, stronger than any Force user ever in existence. He also possessed the potential to become the most powerful light and dark side Force user in the history of the galaxy; according to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin's Force potential surpassed that of even Yoda. Anakin's Force potential is rivaled only by his son, Luke Skywalker. **'Telekinesis:' Anakin was highly skilled in the use of Telekinesis and utilized it either as offensive or defense. **'Force choke:' Anakin occasionally utilized Force choke to strangle others without touching them. **'Mind control:' Anakin utilized Mind control, to control the minds of other sentient beings, however, it did not work on individuals who had strong will. **'Beast Control:' Anakin utilized Beast Control, to control the minds of other animals. **'Force healing:' Anakin utilized Force healing, to heal himself or other sentient beings. **'Dampen Force:' Anakin utilized Dampen Force to temporarily block certain force powers such as; Force push or Force pull. **'Force Jump:' Anakin utilized Force Jump to leap at great distances. **'Force speed:' Anakin utilized Force speed, to move at amazing speed. **'Force vision:' Anakin utilized Force vision, to have visions of the past, the present and the future. However, like all Force users, his visions were not always clear or sometimes had visions even when he was not utilizing this power at will. **'Force sense:' Anakin utilized Force sense, to sense another sentient being's emotions, the future, ripples in the Force caused by momentous or traumatic events, impending danger and the presence of the Dark Side. **'Force barrier:' Anakin utilized Force barrier, a telekinetic barrier or wall, around himself or his allies. **'Force rage:' Anakin utilized Force rage, to channel his anger to increase his speed, strength, ferocity and to overwhelm his opponents. **'Ability to become a Force Spirit:' Due to his immense power and his redemption upon his death, Anakin was able to become a Force Spirit. Because of this, his identity was preserved through the Force, making him immortal. It is likely that Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi or Qui-Gon Jinn (the only other Jedi to attain this power) taught him how to become a Force Spirit as he died. *'Immense Physical Strength:' Anakin used his Force powers to increase his physical strength; this made him physically stronger then most other sentient beings. Abilities *'Lightsaber Skills:' Anakin was extremely skilled in lightsaber combat and an exceptionally gifted duelist. Anakin used his Force powers to increase his physical speed and agility to make his lightsaber skills more lethal in combat; this made him a formidable opponent in single combat. He also possessed the potential to become the greatest lightsaber duelist in the history of the galaxy; according to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin's skills in lightsaber combat rivaled, if not surpassed that of even Yoda. **'Form I:' Anakin was highly skilled in Shii-Cho. **'Form IV:' Anakin was extremely skilled in Ataru. **'Form V:' Anakin was a master of Shien/Djem So, considered by many to be the most proficient practitioner of the style. Anakin initially studied the Shien variant during his first ten years as a jedi. After his defeat by Count Dooku in the First Battle of Geonosis, Anakin studied the Djem So variant and became a master of it. During the Clone Wars, Anakin made some modifications to Shien/Djem So, to make it far more effective in blocking or redirecting multiple Blaster bolts. **'Form VI:' Anakin was highly skilled in Niman. **'Jar'Kai: '''Although Anakin was trained in Jar'Kai by Obi-Wan Kenobi, he was not very skilled at it, due to the fact that he did not practice with it much, as he was working on this mostly as an exercise in control, and was doubtful that he would ever need to apply it. Anakin's assumption was proven wrong when he wielded two lightsabers against Dooku during the First Battle of Geonosis; though he was able to briefly catch the Sith Lord off guard, his lack of skill at dual-blade combat resulted in him losing his second lightsaber in mere seconds. During the Clone Wars, Anakin's skills in Jar'Kai greatly improved to the point where he was able to defeat the recently turned Dark Jedi Barriss Offee with little difficulty, thus becoming much more proficient with dual lightsabers. *'Expert Hand-To-Hand Combatant:' Anakin was extremely skilled in unarmed combat. *'Skilled Marksman:' Anakin was very skilled in the use of blaster pistols, though he rarely used any. *'Master Pilot:' Anakin was extremely skilled in piloting various speeders and most types of flying crafts. He was the best star-pilot in the history of the galaxy. *'Master Engineer:' Even as a child, Anakin was amazingly skilled in engineering for someone of his age. At the age of nine, he was able to successfully build his own podracer. At the age of thirteen, he was able to successfully construct his first blue bladed lightsaber in his first try. *'Genius-Level Intellect/Master Tactician/Leader:' Even as a child, Anakin was amazingly intelligent for someone of his age. His intelligence and wisdom rivalled that of even Yoda and Palpatine. As a Jedi General, Anakin was a highly skilled tactician and a very capable leader. Throughout the Clone Wars, he had gained an excellent reputation of very rarely being defeated, also those serving in his unit, rarely if ever dying under Anakin's command, he can use his opponents own tactics against them. *'Multilingual:' Anakin was capable of fluently speaking English, Huttese and Bitt. Weapons and Equipment Lightsabers Anakin's valued weapon and possession was his blue bladed lightsaber. *'First Lightsaber:' Anakin built his first blue bladed lightsaber on Ilum, it would remain in his possession until it was destroyed on Geonosis in the Separatist Droid Factory while fighting Geonosian soldiers; during Anakin and Padmé's attempt to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi. He briefly fought Dooku with two borrowed lightsabers until he was defeated by the Sith. *'Second Lightsaber:' Anakin built a slightly different blue bladed lightsaber and used it throughout his Jedi career and the entirety of the Clone Wars. He used this weapon through ''Revenge of the Sith, even after having fallen to the Dark Side and throughout the fall of the Galactic Republic. He lost this weapon to Obi-Wan when he was heavily mutilated on Mustafar, leading to the latter keeping it for nineteen years after. Luke Skywalker was given this weapon after meeting Obi-Wan and used it while part of the Rebel Alliance. Luke had no proper training and was forced to improvise his attacks with it. He lost it in his duel with Darth Vader, causing it to fall down Cloud City's airshafts. It then resurfaced and ended up in the hands of Maz Kanata, Finn and then Rey, the two latters who both fought Kylo Ren with it. It was later presented to Luke by Rey as a sign he was needed once again. Film Appearances ''The Phantom Menace'' Anakin Skywalker appears as a nine-year-old slave. He is raised on the planet Tatooine by his mother, Shmi Skywalker, who says Anakin had no father, implying miraculous birth. He is a gifted pilot and engineer, and has the ability to "see things before they happen". He even creates his own protocol droid, C-3PO. Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn meets him after an emergency landing on Tatooine and becomes convinced the boy is the "Chosen One", foretold by a Jedi prophecy as the one who will bring balance to the Force. Anakin wins his freedom in a podrace, but is forced to part with his mother. Qui-Gon takes Anakin to the Jedi Council, who forbid training on the grounds that the boy's future is clouded by the fear he exhibits. During the invasion of Naboo, Anakin is ordered to stay by Qui-Gon until he can find a hiding place. After hiding in a starship, he helps defeat the Trade Federation by destroying their command ship. After Qui-Gon is killed in a duel with Sith Lord Darth Maul, his apprentice, the young Obi-Wan Kenobi, promises to train Anakin, a proposal the Jedi Council reluctantly accepts. During the film, Anakin forms a close bond with Padmé Amidala, Naboo's queen. Palpatine, newly elected as the Republic's Supreme Chancellor, befriends the boy, telling him that "we will watch your career with great interest". ''Attack of the Clones'' Set 10 years later, depicts Anakin as Obi-Wan's apprentice. Palpatine assigns Anakin and Obi-Wan to investigate an assassination attempt made on Padmé, who is now a senator. Anakin and Obi-Wan locate the assassin, but before they can board a ship, Obi-Wan hurls himself out the window and onto a droid. Fortunately, Anakin "borrows" an airspeeder and he is able to rescue him. With that, the two are able to chase down the assassin, but fail to learn her identity when she is shot by her employer. Anakin travels with her to Naboo, where they fall in love. Anakin has a vision of his mother in pain, and goes to Tatooine, where he learns that Shmi had been kidnapped by Tusken Raiders weeks ago. He goes to the Tusken camp, where he discovers his mother has been tortured beyond saving by the tribe; she dies in his arms. Heartbroken, Anakin flies into a violent rage and slaughters every single Tusken raider; men, women and even children. He returns with his mother's body, and tearfully confesses his deed to Padmé, who comforts him. Soon after, Anakin and Padmé travel to Geonosis, hoping to rescue Obi-Wan from Jedi-turned-Sith Lord Count Dooku and his army of battle droids and Geonosisians; instead, they end up in a doid factory and are captured and sentenced to death. Anakin and Padmé profess their love for each other before being rescued by an army of clone troopers and Jedi. After fighting in a fierce battle, Anakin follows Dooku to a hangar and loses his right forearm in a lightsaber duel with him; it is later replaced with a prosthetic. Anakin and Padmé then marry in a secret ceremony. ''Revenge of the Sith'' Three years later, Anakin is a Jedi Knight and hero of the Clone Wars. He and Obi-Wan lead an attempt to rescue Palpatine, who has been captured by Count Dooku and Separatist commander General Grievous. During the rescue, Anakin defeats Dooku in a lightsaber duel and executes him in cold blood on Palpatine's orders. When he returns to Coruscant, he meets with Padmé, who tells him she is pregnant with his child. That night, he has a vision of Padmé dying in childbirth; he fears it will come true, as it is similar to the visions he had of his mother before her death. Meanwhile, Palpatine names Anakin his personal representative on the Jedi Council. The Council, suspicious of Palpatine's near-dictatorial power in the Senate, denies Anakin the rank of Jedi Master, and orders him to spy on Palpatine, whom Anakin considers a friend and mentor. Confused and angered by the perceived snub and the instructions to commit what he believes to be treason, Anakin begins to lose faith in the Jedi. Palpatine eventually reveals to Anakin that he is Darth Sidious, the Sith mastermind behind the war, and that the dark side of the Force holds the power to save Padmé's life. Conflicted, Anakin reports Palpatine's treachery to Jedi Master Mace Windu. Despite orders to remain behind, Anakin follows Mace to the Chancellor's office to ensure Palpatine is captured alive. He walks in on the Jedi Master, ready to kill Palpatine and intervenes on the Sith's behalf, severing Mace's lightsaber arm; Palpatine then kills Mace with a blast of Force lightning. Desperate to save his wife and seeing nowhere else to go, Anakin pledges himself to the Order of the Sith Lords as Palpatine's apprentice, being renamed Darth Vader. On Palpatine's orders, Vader leads the 501st Legion to kill everyone in the Jedi Temple and then assassinates the Separatist leaders on Mustafar. Padmé meets him there and pleads with him to flee Palpatine's grasp with her. He refuses, saying that his powers are growing enough so that he can overthrow Palpatine and rule the galaxy with her, offering her to fulfill her idealistic visions of a better galaxy. When Obi-Wan emerges from Padmé's ship, Vader accuses her of conspiring against him and uses the Force to choke her into unconsciousness. Vader then engages his former master in a vicious lightsaber duel, which ends when Obi-Wan severs Vader's legs and left arm. Vader slides too close to a lava river and catches fire, sustaining life-threatening third-degree burns all over his body. With bitter regret, Obi-Wan takes his former pupil's lightsaber and leaves him to die. Shortly afterwards, Sidious finds the crippled and disfigured Vader, and has him taken back to Coruscant, where his burned body is reconstructed with the cybernetic limbs and black armor first seen in A New Hope. When Vader regains consciousness, Palpatine tells him Padmé died as a result of Vader's anger. The news of her death breaks what remains of Vader's good spirit, and he screams in despair. He is last seen alongside the Emperor and a young Grand Moff Tarkin viewing the construction of the first Death Star, setting up A New Hope. ''Return of the Jedi'' 23 years later, in Return of the Jedi, Anakin redeems himself by killing Palpatine, who was really the true traitor and enemy of the Galactic Republic that Mace Windu warned him about. Refusing to let his son die, he hurls his former master over a pit's railing, avenging Padmé, his past crimes, and himself. However, Palpatine's lightning shorts out Anakin's life-support system, mortally wounding him. He dies in Luke's arms, after looking at his son "with his own eyes". Later, he appears to Luke as a spirit, along with Yoda and Obi-Wan. Television Appearances ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars Anakin appeared as one of the main characters of ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In the series he was voiced by Matt Lanter, and took on an apprentice known as Ahsoka Tano, who eventually left the Jedi Order. ''Star Wars Rebels While his alternate form, Darth Vader, appears as a recurring character in the series, Anakin does appear twice in the second season episode, "Shroud of Darkness". He was once again voiced by Matt Lanter, who originally provided Anakin's voice in the show's predecessor. In "Shroud of Darkness", Anakin is first seen as a holocron recording, teaching different lightsaber tactics. He later appears as a vision in the Jedi Temple on Lothal, chastising Ahsoka for leaving him. It is then that the image of Anakin becomes that of Darth Vader. Tormented and in tears, Ahsoka finally learns the fate of her former master. In "Twilight of the Apprentice", Ahsoka sees Anakin's face beneath the mask of Darth Vader when she injures him during their duel and hears his voice. Ahsoka shows him compassion, firmly saying she will not leave him again. Anakin briefly falters, but then, embracing his inner darkness as Darth Vader, he coldly tells her that she will die, causing their duel to resume as the Sith temple around them collapses and explodes. Video games Disney INFINITY Anakin Skywalker appears in ''Disney INFINITY's third installment as a playable character. He is playable in the Toy Box and the Twilight of the Republic Play Set, where he helps Obi-Wan, Ahsoka Tano and Yoda to battle General Grievous and defeat Darth Maul. He can also be used in the other Star Wars play sets if his crossover coins in each play set are collected. Portrayals Sebastian Shaw appeared in the final scenes of Return of the Jedi when he was unmasked by Luke and died in his arms. He later appeared as the ghost of Anakin along with Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. This scene was later edited so the Hayden Christensen Anakin appeared as his ghost. Jake Lloyd was chosen from over 3000 prospective child actors to play Anakin in The Phantom Menace. Casting director Robin Gurland initially thought Lloyd was too young to play the role; however, upon another meeting several years later, Gurland believed Lloyd was an appropriate choice for the part. Hayden Christensen portrayed the older Anakin in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith; he also donned Darth Vader's armor for the final scenes of the latter film. Mat Lucas voiced Anakin for the 2003 Clone Wars animated TV series and in various Star Wars video games, while Matt Lanter voiced the character in the CGI The Clone Wars film and subsequent 2008 The Clone Wars animated TV series. For the 2004 Special Edition DVD release of Return of the Jedi, Hayden Christensen reprised his role as Anakin, with the look and appearance he had in Revenge of the Sith, by replacing Sebastian Shaw as Anakin's spirit in the final scene of the film during the celebration of the fall of the Empire. Disney Parks Anakin Skywalker appears as a meetable character at Disney's Hollywood Studios during Star Wars Weekends at the Walt Disney World Resort. Relationships Gallery Trivia *Anakin Skywalker was named after Ken Annakin, the director of Disney's 1960 live-action movie, Swiss Family Robinson, one of George Lucas' favorite Disney movies. * According with J. J. Abrams, Anakin was planned to appear in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as a Force Ghost. However, the idea was scrapped, and the only references to Anakin was a mention and his helmet of Darth Vader. ** Also, Disney confirmed that in the rest of the ''Star Wars'' sequel trilogy, Anakin will not appear in the remaining films. 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